Introduction to Gut-Skin Inflammation

Welcome to the Chronic Inflammation Summit. I'm your host, Dr. David Jockers. And today we are talking all about the gut, skin, brain connection and how inflammation causes issues with your skin and particularly causes issues with acne and what you can do naturally to help prevent acne.

We're going to do a deep dive on the gut brain skin connection, the importance of taking care of your gut to take care of your skin, and my guest is Maria Marlowe.

She's a certified nutritionist specializing in acne. And she's founder of Kuma, a science backed Ingestible skincare company, on a mission to revolutionize how people think about skin cancer from outside only to inside out.

For the past ten years, Maria has helped thousands of people across the globe clear their skin and optimize their health by improving their diet. In her signature 90 day Clear Skin program, she has completely broken down.

How to get to the root of your acne and clear it naturally and swiftly through diet and lifestyle changes, even when medications have failed. And she's the author of The Real Food Grocery Guide and Be Healthy Every Day.

It's been on a lot of popular social media, and you can find her at MariaMarlowe.com You guys are going to really enjoy this interview. And without further ado, let's go right to it.

Well, Maria, great to connect with you. And we were just talking that you're in Dubai right now, which is a really interesting part of the world. And so you split time between the United States and Dubai.

That must be really interesting. And, you know, obviously you're an expert in acne and what what really got you involved, but what got you so interested in acne in general?

Well, I had really bad acne and nothing would make it go away. I had it for about five years. Despite trying all the things from the drugstore topicals to the dermatologist prescribed medications from antibiotics to spiritual tone to birth control all the way up.

I was eventually prescribed Accutane, which I decided not to take. I filled the prescription. but I remember, like, getting the bag and stapled to the front, you know, is that piece of paper that has all the side effects and everything on it.

And I remember reading severe Depression that could lead to suicide. And I was like, I'm already depressed. So none of these other medications have worked.

I'm not even going to I'm not even going to try this. And I'm just kind of resorting or resigning myself to the fact that I'm cursed with bad luck, bad genes, or bad skin.

One of one of the three. Fast forward a few years and I was introduced to this concept of food as medicine. And at first it sounded ridiculous, if I'm quite honest.

Like there's no way that's going to work. But I was desperate and willing to try anything, so I did.

Maria Marlowe's Acne Journey

I overhauled my diet and worked on restoring my gut health and, in a matter of about three months, my skin cleared up and I was just so blown away by my own transformation, which I can see in the mirror, that I ended up going down this nutrition rabbit hole and going on to study nutrition and cooking to really spread this, this message of food as medicine.

Yeah, such an important message. I know obviously I was impacted just the same. In fact, I remember growing up seeing my mom actually was studying to become a naturopath and my older brother had acne.

And she would say it's because he eats so much sugar. He's eating these processed chocolate bars, things like that. And, you know, and so I heard that and I was like, okay, I don't want acne.

I'm not going to eat food like that. Right. And so my mom is teaching me at an early age that, you know what? At what we eat impacts not only our appearance, but I was also an athlete.

And so she would relate, when it came to my athletic performance as well. And that's how she got me to eat food set. At that period of time in my life I did not enjoy.

And so, so, you know, it's it's a powerful message. And what are some of the root cause factors when it comes to acne? What do we need to look at as far as what is the actual root cause.

Yeah. So the primary root causes inflammation. And something that I feel a lot of people don't realize is that acne is actually, classified as a chronic inflammatory skin disorder.

It's not a bacterial infection. Everyone thinks acne is caused by bacteria. It's not. That was a hypothesis back in the 1950s, which have since been debunked.

Bacteria may play a role in acne, but it is not the primary driver. It's the first domino is inflammation in the body that sets off that whole chain of events.

So whereas inflammation come from it can come from so many places. So, one really common low hanging fruit is nutrient deficiencies. And the research shows that there are several nutrient deficiencies that are common amongst acne patients.

So for example, a vitamin A, zinc and omega three, and you know, interestingly or not, interestingly, these foods, the foods that contain these nutrients are not, you know, widely consumed in the standard American diet.

like vitamin A is found primarily in organ meats like beef liver and cod liver oil. Or you can get beta carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A from our orange fruits and vegetables like sweet potato, butternut squash, and carrots.

So if you're not eating these foods on a regular basis, you're probably not getting enough. And typically, the worse the deficiency, the worse the severity of the acne.

And if someone with acne has one of these deficiency, it's simply adding these foods into the diet that are going to help replenish those nutrients can make a huge impact.

So nutrient deficiencies is one root cause. a pro-inflammatory diet would be another one. So eating too much sugar like you mentioned. So your mom was right.

Moms are always right. too much sugar in the diet has been linked to acne. and multiple, multiple studies. And on the flip side, we know that a low glycemic load diet, one that keeps our blood sugar more stable.

This has actually been associated with a reduction in acne. And there's actually an interesting study. I believe this was an American, Academy of Dermatology that, it included 3000, almost 3000 people, and they put them on a, low glycemic load diet for about three months.

And at the end of the three months, 87% of the participants said they had less acne and 91% said they had, to use less acne medication. It's pretty, pretty huge.

simply from, you know, reducing your refined carbohydrate. So pro-inflammatory diet also, seed oils, you know, we're eating so many packaged foods, processed foods that are rich in seed oils, high in omega six, that can also, you know, push our body into a pro-inflammatory state, which can trigger inflammation, not just in the body but also in the skin.

Another root cause, could be got this virus.

Root Causes of Acne

So, which is interesting because antibiotics are used very commonly to treat acne. But like the paradox is, even if they work while you're on the antibiotics, typically once you get off them within a year or so, acne often comes back.

and so, what we know from the research is that people with acne tend to lack, the good lactobacillus and bifidobacteria strains in their gut. They also tend to have less gut microbial diversity, meaning they have less different types of strains in the gut.

And they may also be more prone to having, increased intestinal permeability. And so all of these things contribute to inflammation in the body. and when we have inflammation, it doesn't typically stay in one spot.

It's systemic. And can can show up on our skin as breakouts. another root cause could be hormonal imbalance. And so, one of the common hormonal imbalances that is associated with acne is excess androgens.

But what I always like to tell people when we're talking about hormonal imbalance is that your hormones are not the problem. The habits causing them to become imbalanced are the problem.

And you know, in the case of acne and excess androgens, we know, for example, that a high glycemic diet can actually push our androgens up. We know consuming enough, not enough fiber can do the same.

And that actually increasing your fiber intake can help to bring that level down. you know, we know stress disrupts our hormones, right? So there's so many, so many diet and lifestyle factors at play that influence our hormones.

So if you do have a hormonal imbalance, whether it's acne, you know, associated with acne or not, don't hate your hormones. You know, don't be mad at yourself.

They're just the messenger. And we got to get to the root cause of what is tipping them off balance. And by androgens you're talking about testosterone.

Testosterone derivatives, which is exactly. Like. For a female. Normally those would be, you know, lower right. However, there are conditions like PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome.

It's associated with higher testosterone. And typically right along with that is high insulin coming from blood sugar imbalances. And so for certain women, when they have blood sugar imbalances, their body produce a lot of insulin.

It produces a lot of these androgens. Exactly. And we know, yeah, that, excess insulin, we know that when we have high insulin, this also can increase our, the hormone IGF one, insulin like growth factor one.

This creases increases inflammation in the body. It actually also causes your skin to produce more oil. So it's creating inflammation in the body. And then it's also having your skin produce more oil which is a recipe for, you know, you know, recipe for breakouts.

Yeah. And for men like men who use steroids, for example, one of the classic signs is they get a whole bunch of acne a lot of times on their back. Yeah.

And you know, it's so funny because you know, when I was growing up and reading all the magazines, we're always taught there's three types of skin normal skin, oily skin and dry skin.

But the truth is we all have normal skin that can become more oily or more dry depending on our diet, our lifestyle, and of course, our topical products.

As well. but we we influence it, pretty, pretty significantly. And you're not stuck with one, you know, one type of skin, you know, adding the nutrients into the diet and keeping your blood sugar stable can really go a long way in normalizing, quote unquote, your skin.

another root cause would be stress, which is very prevalent these days. And, you know, sometimes, like, I know people just want to focus on the diet because in a way it seems easier than dealing with life and stress.

but stress can absolutely break you out. There are several studies that have showed this, back in the 1930s, there were actually two dermatologists, Donald M Pillsbury and John H.

Stokes, who did a lot of research on like a stress gut skin connection. And they really set the groundwork with a framework for what we now call that gut brain skin access or gut brain skin connection.

And what they hypothesized was that negative emotional thoughts such as fear, worry, doubt this could actually create disturbances in the gut, which would create inflammation and then show up on the skin as breakouts.

And you know, they did they did experiments and they showed this. And in the decades, you know, following more and more research that, you know, supported this hypothesis.

And we do know now that negative thoughts can actually wipe out some of the good bacteria in your gut. This allows the the pro-inflammatory bacteria to proliferate.

it could also increase your intestinal permeability, which again is going to create inflammation. And that inflammation that's starting in the gut can end up on your skin.

breakouts. And then the last of the six root causes would be overly harsh skincare. You know, I think with acne, the tendency is to want to scrub it away or peel it away or just get rid of it because, you know, there's this association with like being dirty in some way, which it's not like acne is not really a hygiene issue.

it's an inflammation issue. And so when we're using these harsh topicals that are stripping our, you know, our natural barrier or stripping away too much oil and actually ends up doing the opposite of what we want, and our skin overcompensate.

It's trauma. Yeah. And you're making your skin more sensitive, more raw, more red. and potentially more oily. Because when you strip all the oil out your skin, we need oil on our skin.

So your skin will overcompensate by producing more oil, not less. and so I would say, like, I'm a proponent of using really gentle, natural skincare and letting your diet and lifestyle do the heavy lifting of clearing your skin naturally from within.

Yeah, it's a great summary, a great breakdown there. Now let's talk about the gut brain skin axis or the gut brain skin connection and why that matters when it comes to acne and just really having healthy skin and healthy body.

Yeah, I think this is a missing link for a lot of people because we are you know, most people are so focused on the topical and the ten step skincare and they're not paying attention to their gut.

So what we know is, is the acne patients tend to have gut issues. Whether or not you have the bloating or like the visible got issues. if you have acne or other inflammatory skin conditions, there is a high a high likelihood that something's not right in your gut.

Something's not balanced there. So, what we know is that the acne patients tend to lack those good lactobacillus and bifidobacteria. They tend to lack the diversity, and they tend to be, have, increased intestinal permeability.

So knowing that one way to address our skin is actually to our gut. So if we can support our gut health first, we can actually clear our skin. So adding in certain probiotic strains like Acidophilus and Lemnos just SP1.

This is a really interesting one. This one has been shown in a double blind, placebo controlled clinical trial to improve the appearance of both acne.

in just 12 weeks simply by adding the probiotic into the diet. other lactobacillus strains have also been beneficial, like, lasso tops lists, and you know, a reason that the gut microbiome plays such a big role is not just for our gut health and our immune health, because we know the gut supports immune home, but also of hormonal balance, because the way that we remove excess hormones is through our stool.

And so when we're constipated, those access hormones can actually get reabsorbed back into the bloodstream, contributing to imbalance. So especially if anyone's listening with like hormonal acne, hormonal breakouts, look at your gut first and, you know, really focus on regularity because that is sometimes, again, one of these kind of lower hanging fruit.

if you're not having enough fiber, you know, if you need to nourish your gut with fermented foods and probiotic rich foods or probiotics that can help, you can really change your skin by first changing your gut.

Yeah. That's key. And then also, you know, a lot of times when people don't have, for example, lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium in the proper ratios, they can also end up with anxiety, depression.

Right? A lot of these kind of more mental issues. In fact, you know, a lot of people with that have acne, there's a high percentage of them that are also dealing with a lot of mental illness.

Yeah, 100%. And that's why it's kind of like this, cruel hamster wheel, in a way. And the, you know, what happens in the brain affects the gut. What happens in the gut affects the brain.

And the same with the skin. So what happens in the brain is affecting the skin like that. These three organs are very intricately connected. I like to think of it as like a little superhighway between the three of them, and it goes in both directions.

So it's not one direction with both directions. and, you know, with a depression. I'm glad you brought that up, because that is like a very, big problem with people with acne.

Is the depression at issue? like you mentioned, that gut health does play a huge role in that. and then even the omega three, which we mentioned earlier, which is a very common deficiency amongst acne patients and also in depression.

So simply adding in you know, the nutrients that we need and helping to restore our gut can make a, a big headway, you know, in both in both areas. Yeah.

And speaking of the gut, I know there's a big association between low stomach acid or under producing stomach acid and acne as well. Can you can you elaborate more on that?

Well, you know, digestion plays such a pivotal role, not just for the digestion in that gut microbial diversity, but also because it's helping us to absorb nutrients as well.

And there are so many nutrients that are needed for healthy, clear skin. So when we have any issue along the digestive tract, whether it's low stomach acid, whether we, you know, have an issue even with our detox systems, with our liver, any, any issue along any of these areas is going to create a problem.

So the healthiest you know, when it comes to acne, it's the healthiest diet is not necessarily like a special acne diet. It's kind of like the healthiest diet for our immune system, for our gut health.

you know, for our overall health is it's one in the same. Yeah. For sure. And also when you have low stomach acid, you're not able to absorb zinc and key minerals.

And, you touched on how zinc deficiency is a really big factor. And that is that's a huge factor when it comes to acne in general. And so going to be able to absorb a lot of those minerals and different nutrients.

Gut-Brain-Skin Connection

So if you're not producing enough stomach acid because you're eating on the run, maybe you're eating fast food, you're eating while you're stressed, that's antagonistic to producing the right digestive juices to be able to break down, to absorb your nutrients effectively.

But, you know, so many people are doing this, then that's going to lead us to having problems, you know, having more toxic buildup, having a more nutrient deficiencies and, in trouble with our digestion, our gut.

So let's transition to, I know you have your clear skin plan, your 90 day clear skin plan, and, you have nutrition plan that obviously that's associated with that.

What are some of the best foods that you recommend for people that are dealing with acne? So definitely our whole foods, our whole foods, number one, anti-inflammatory foods and low glycemic foods.

So to more specifically, definitely we want to make sure that we are eating enough plant based foods, enough vegetables, fruit, high fiber foods. because that is so key for our digestion and for our hormone balance.

And of course, they're a great source of various nutrients and antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory benefits. So making sure you're eating plenty of veggies in particular for the dark leafy greens and orange vegetables, I think are particularly beneficial for acne prone skin, the dark leafy greens, because, they're kind of like nature's, or the Plant Kingdoms multivitamin, very rich in nutrients and antioxidants.

and the orange ones, because they're a source of beta carotene, which our body converts to vitamin A, which is necessary. Seeds, I think, are really helpful.

things like flax seed, chia seed, hemp seed, pumpkin seed, sunflower seed, and kind of just getting into the habit of incorporating them into your daily diet, you know, on salads or on, you know, whatever you're eating as a snack.

and because, for example, flax and share these are going to be a rich source of omega three fatty acids, which are going to help to reduce inflammation.

They're also good source of fiber, and are going to help with, with regularity. Cod liver oil is one of my favorite skin superfoods because it's rich in vitamin A, omega three, and vitamin D.

And like I said before, vitamin A is one of these common deficiencies amongst acne patients. And most people are not eating liver. If you can eat liver, go for it.

You know, that's great if you're not there yet. The cod liver oil is a great kind of like introduction to it. and I will say, like with liver, you know, you don't have to like, eat, eat like a whole chunk of liver.

Start slow. Like, get the chop that you can get the blends where it's mixed in with chopped meat. Usually I think it's like 10%, liver at 90%. Chop me.

Put that in a Bolognese sauce or something, you know, like, add spices, you know, make it really flavorful. You won't even taste it. so, yeah, liver is definitely a skin superfood because of the a, Yeah.

Like putting liver, liver and heart in soups and stews, too. A lot of times it takes a gaming s out and you don't really notice the, you know, the strong, gamey flavor that a lot of people dislike about liver when it's in a super A stew.

So that's another good option too. That's. Yeah, that's actually a great, a great technique. I'll have to like get your recipe for that, because that sounds pretty good.

Yeah. Like, you know, and Thanksgiving out here in the United States, you know, we get we had the turkey. So then we just take the whole turkey and boil it up, make a great broth.

You know, and then make a soup out of it and throw in all the organ meats. Right. Because when we get the turkey, we get all of the, you know, the gizzard and all the different organs, just put it all in the soup.

And then, like my kids eat it every, you know, the whole family is eating it. And so, so it's great. Yeah. Speaking of which, bone broth. This is another great skin for our food and for our gut.

great for supporting a healthy gut lining. That's great. collagen. I like to add collagen peptides whenever I can. it's helpful for your skin health in general, but, you know, inflammation is the root cause of acne, and it's also the root cause of premature aging and wrinkling through the skin.

So adding the collagen can actually help with that. And studies have shown that 12 weeks of regular consumption, about ten grams, you know, give or take, can actually help to reverse some signs of skin aging and wrinkles and, and fine lines.

So yeah, those are, those are some of the best. But just in general, you know, you want to keep your blood sugar stable. So avoid those refined carbohydrate foods like breads, cereal, pasta, smoothies, candy, etc..

Focus more on your whole carbohydrate foods, your vegetables, your whole grains. if you consume grains, and, you know, keeping your blood sugar stable and getting healthy fiber from your veggies, getting protein, you know, from your animal protein and then getting healthy fat as well.

Yeah. Very good. And now let's talk about some supplements, maybe probiotics. mega threes. What are some of your top supplements when it comes to acne.

Yeah. So one of them is the cod liver oil which I mentioned earlier. I think this is a really good one. But you have to make sure you're getting a good brand because sometimes you'll find cod liver oil that only has like omega three in it, for example.

so the way that they're processed sometimes, like some of the, the fat soluble nutrients, like the vitamin A and the D actually decreased significantly or are not really present.

So make sure you're getting a good one that has vitamin A, vitamin D, omega three probiotics. Super duper important. So some of the strains that are incredibly beneficial for acne prone skin is that LRM Gnosis SP one.

That's a really good one. Al acidophilus is good. Your Bifidobacteria strains. These are beneficial for regularity, which plays such a huge role in, you know, in, in clear skin and skin health.

so all of these would be good. and, what else? Those are kind of the two key ones sometimes. Bitters. Do you ever use bitters? Sure. Absolutely. Digestive bitter is good for your liver. Right.

And so it helps. Explain. All your digestive juices apple cider vinegar, ginger, things like that to help activate the stomach acid, bile flow, pancreatic enzymes for sure.

Exactly. Yeah. So I would say probably the other one would be digestive bitters because of whatever. Exactly what you said. It just helps the digestion helps with you absorbing your nutrients a bit better.

I would say those are probably the main three. And the rest we really try. Like if, for example, though, you can't take liver for example, like maybe you're for whatever reason you don't like the cod liver oil because I know it does.

You know, if you get a good one, there's very, very little taste or smell. but I think you could take the capsules as well.

Foods and Supplements for Clear Skin

But if that for some reason you can't take it. there's beef liver capsules as well, of course, eating it. I feel like eating our food is definitely the number one priority, but whatever.

We can't get through the food, then we can supplement. Yeah. For sure. Now, what if somebody maybe has taken medication? you know, they've tried, you know, Accutane and different things like that, and they it hasn't worked.

can they still use this food as a medicine approach? Oh, absolutely. So with acting, you know, it's interesting. It's considered the gold standard of acne medications.

But, you know, as time goes on, you know, we're seeing that it doesn't really clear everyone's skin long term. And you know, they'll you'll hear of people having to go on it two and three times.

and or you know, it coming back within like two years. And so the way that Accutane is believed to work is by shrinking the sebaceous glands, which are your oil producing glands. But overactive oil glands are not necessarily like the root cause, like, yes, too much oil plays a role.

But again, it's the inflammation that's the problem. So we need to go after the inflammation. So for anyone listening, whether it's Accutane or something else that you've tried like don't give up hope, there's still, you know, there's still hope because the medications are not really addressing the inflammation.

And if you address inflammation through the diet and the lifestyle, you will be absolutely amazed at what your you know, your body can do and how your skin can heal.

Yeah. It's important. And also the the flip side of that is true as well. Even if you've taken a medication like Accutane and you've gotten results, you know, your skin cleared up.

That doesn't mean you got rid of the root cause. And so you still need to address the root cause. It may, it may, you may feel better and more confident about yourself.

That's great. But you still want to address that inflammation because it's affecting other areas of your body as well. Inflammation. Unless it's like an injury, like you sprain or ankle inflammation, doesn't just stay in one area. If it's affecting your skin, it's affecting other areas of your body as well.

So it's super important that you get to the root cause. Well, that's why I always call acne a blessing in disguise, because on your face and most people are not that lucky because the inflammation is inside and they don't know about it until it's too late.

And so or, you know, things progressed in a, in a bad direction. So acne really I know if you're struggling with acne now, it doesn't seem like it, but I promise you it's the biggest blessing in disguise because it's helping you to look a little bit deeper, look under the hood and really find, the the trigger and then the diet and lifestyle habits that can help rectify it, not just for your skin, but for your overall health.

Absolutely. And some people have this idea that all teenagers get acne. And I think it is definitely more prevalent, for teenagers. But there are obviously people out there that are teenagers that really get very little, if any, acne.

And so what is that? Is that true? You know, a lot of people think all act, all teenagers are getting acne. Yeah. That's a very common belief because I think the statistic in America, some say 85, some say 90.

So some say upwards of 95% of teens get get acne, which is a humongous number. And it's, you know, easy to think, oh, well, it's just must be a natural part of life.

But if we actually, first of all, look even into the past history of America, we see that it was not always 85% plus. And if we look to other countries, which are, or have a more natural diet and lifestyle, not so dependent on stress and processed foods, their levels of acne are quite, quite low.

Like I was looking at some studies in Egypt, for example. And in this rural area of Egypt, the rate of acne amongst teenagers and adolescents was like less than 2%, which is, you know, mind blowing.

And you might be like, oh, maybe they're genetically blessed or something. but if you look at the rate of acne in cities like a major city in Egypt, like Cairo, it's not 2%.

It's maybe I think like sitting was like 60%, something like that, which is not 90, but it's still not too you know, there's a big difference in, in, in the rural areas they are eating, you know, meat, beans, lentils, vegetables, you know, that is their diet.

Whereas of course, cities, yeah, their whole whole range of foods, you know, when you're in the cities, of course, you have more access to the processed and refined foods.

even, you know, in South America, researchers have looked at various like hunter gatherer tribes there. And, you know, in one region, I think they were with the group of people for like three years.

And over the span of three years, they did not record one pimple. man, woman, child, teenager like nothing over the span of three years, not one person had a pimple.

and so it sounds like, again, like they must be genetically blessed. But again, when we look at, you know, people, who move to the cities, their acne becomes the same as, you know, the people in that city.

It's no longer the acne of, you know, their, their roots. So, acne is really it's it's a disease of inflammation, and it's a disease of the Western, lifestyle.

Unfortunate. And you know what's interesting about looking at the different cultures and the different acne rates around the world and throughout history is that they don't all have the same diet like the places that have low or non-existent acne.

They don't all have the same diet, but they have certain factors that are the same, meaning it's whole foods, it's anti-inflammatory foods. there's no or there's basically no processed and refined foods.

they are living more in tune with nature. these are kind of the, the main tenants that are helping to keep their skin clear. Yeah. For sure. You know, I would say three three big change is reducing the amount of sugar and and, you know, in a sense high glycemic foods that you're putting in your body getting rid of seed oils or really, you know, all your processed, seed oils and processed high omega six fats and then also reducing the amount of toxins in your food, getting, you know, trying to go as organic as possible.

So people that are in more of these rural areas, they're eating foods that tend to be less, you know, less pesticides, herbicides, more organic, natural whole food base.

So they've got the fiber, you know, they've got all the the natural components that make them more blood sugar stabilizing. So it makes sense. And I'm glad that you cited that research.

looking at it, only 2% in the rural area. And then you go into the city and it's like 60% in kind of the same region where people are having, you know, basically the same genetics.

Exactly. Yeah. I mean, even if we look at, like the Inuit in Canada. So I believe it was in the 1970s where they were kind of forced to assimilate to Western culture.

And, beforehand they had again, acne was pretty much non-existent, not to mention like other heart disease and other chronic inflammatory conditions, basically nonexistent in this, you know, group of people, once they're forced to assimilate and adopt a Western diet and lifestyle, their rates just skyrocketed and are just in line with, you know, their fellow fellow citizens.

So this has happened again and again. They saw this in Okinawa, Japan. You know, this is one of the blue zones which we hear about all the time because the people traditionally, you know, lived past 100 and if you go to Okinawa today, it's.

Yeah, maybe the elders are there, but they're unfortunately dying off, and the younger generations are dying of heart disease. And the other, you know, inflammatory disorders at an alarming rate because unfortunately, the Americans went in there and, and, and out of their hamburgers and milkshakes and hot dogs and all that stuff and, and.

Accutane, Acne Myths, and Global Diet Patterns

Yeah, so it's, you know, actually looking historically at the acne rates and the disease rates, it's it's quite, quite telling. And, a great reminder that we have so much control over our health more than we realize, just with what we choose to eat and how we choose to live.

Yeah. So important to know. I mean, you know, for me, growing up in America in the 80s, 90s, 2000, you know, I saw so many people around me with acne when I, you know, when I was a teenager going through school in the 90s, so many people around me with acne, I just thought, everybody has it.

And so we've kind of bought this lie that, you know, as teenagers, just about everybody like you cited that 80 to 90% are getting acne. And we bought that lie that that is just the way it's supposed to be, but it's not the way that it's supposed to be.

And it's actually a sign that our diet and lifestyle are not working for us, driving up inflammation in our system. And so you've got this 90 day clear skin plan program.

Tell us a little bit more about that and what you what you do and how you walk people through these 90 days. Yeah. So the creation plan, is a program that helps you figure out the potential root causes of acne and then remedy them with diet and lifestyle changes.

And it's not a one size fits all. It's a very much take what you need and leave what you don't and figure out what works best for you, kind of through a little bit of, experimentation and trial and error.

because an anti-acne diet, like, as I mentioned before, it's not one specific diet. It's just, an overall chewing, you know, anti-inflammatory, low glycemic load, nutrient dense diet.

And you can create that in various different ways. so there are recipes in there also to kind of help kickstart, and to reduce that inflammation. because that's really, really important.

And, you know, one question people always ask me about the scarring, how to reduce acne scarring or how to get rid of acne scarring. And, interestingly, the best way to prevent acne scarring or reduce acne scarring is to prevent it.

Right? So, we get acne scars because of, the amount of inflammation and how long it lasts. So the more inflammation and the longer it lasts, the more likely we are to scar.

But if we can reduce the amount of inflammation and reduce the amount of time it last, the less likely we are to scar. So if you can put something on anti-inflammatory topically, that's of course great. So like tea tree oil would be a great one.

Has anti-inflammatory properties but also internally make sure you're having some tumeric and black pepper. Make sure you're having some ginger. Making sure you know you're having anti-inflammatory foods, your bone broth.

these are going to help to reduce the inflammation from the inside, which will help fully, hopefully, you know, reduce the time and amount of inflammation on your skin to reduce that chance of scarring.

Yeah, that's really important to notice the scarring. There is kind of like scar tissue anywhere in your body. And so your body's trying to do the best it can to patch the area up.

But like you said, you got to get that inflammation down and under control. So that's great. So you go through that in your in your program. And what are people what kind of results are people getting through that 90 day plan.

Yeah I mean it's pretty amazing because I've had thousands of people do it now, like all over the world as well. And, you know, everyone has different food everywhere.

But the main thing is it's not the specific foods, it's the principles. And so, yeah, I mean, people are clearing their skin depending, you know, in 90 days or less.

So if it's more mild sometimes 30 days, it's really 30 to 60 days and all it takes is a little bit more moderate. you know, then it might take more like closer to the 90 days.

but significant improvements going from, you know, oily skin to normal skin from like, breaking out every day to not breaking out at all, even getting rid of the period breakouts, that's another thing.

You know, a common misconception that if you're a woman, you have to have period breakouts. It's not true. everyone's you know, every woman's hormones are fluctuating, you know, with her, her period.

But it doesn't mean you need to get acne again. It kind of comes back to that inflammation, making sure that our inflammation levels are low. Our blood sugar is balanced.

Our, bowels are working properly, and you don't have to break out around your period. So it's really kind of like a step by step guide and has gotten tremendous results for both men and women.

you know, and, of any age, you know, I have people in their 40s who've had acne for decades who cleared their skin, you know, using the plan versus, you know, someone in college, younger.

So it kind of really works across the spectrum because, like I said, it's not that one size fits all. It's, you know, really tailored and and, figuring out what works for your specific needs.

Yeah, it's really good. Now, do you, do you go through, like, specific types of skincare I know you've got at your own skincare? Do you go through what people should be looking for when it comes to skincare as well in the in the program.

So in the program I kind of recommend, like I like gentle skincare. Natural. I'm a I'm a proponent of natural things.

90-Day Clear Skin Plan and Final Advice

So I have I don't have like topical skincare, but I do have a probiotic called Glow Biome, which is a probiotic specifically formulated for acne prone skin, which has been shown in an independent clinical trial to, you know, reduce breakouts, reduce excess oil, and increase skin hydration.

So it's using a lot of those clinically validated strains like LRM, Gnosis, SP1, Alaska dockless, B lactis that are going to help repair the dot first and then the skin a second.

so that's yeah, definitely something that has also been, you know, incredible and having incredible results. but yeah, in terms of like topical skincare, I do have some recommendations, but it's basically just the gentler the better.

Yeah. Yeah. Gentle anti-inflammatory. So way to go there. Well wonderful Maria I mean this has been a great interview. I think it's helped a lot of our audience here really understand that, you know, more about acne and more about just how to have healthy skin.

And I think that's something all of us want. We want to look younger than we are as we get older. And when we're young, we want to have clear, really, really clear skin, no acne.

And so it's been, some great information. Any last words of inspiration here for our audience? And where do they find out more about you and your 90 day Clear Skin program?

Yeah. So my last words of wisdom would just be, don't give up. And there's nothing wrong with you. you maybe have just been going going down the wrong path, but, you know, understanding that acne is caused by inflammation kind of opens up a whole new world of possibility and and fixing it and remedying it.

And, I have a ton of information on my website, from informational articles to, recipes. And that's at Mariamarlowe.com And Marlowe is spelled M A R L O W E so you can find the clear skin plan there.

And you know, everything you need for for clear skin. Great, great. And what are your thoughts on, on sun exposure and red light therapy as well? I know, red light therapy has been more and more popular now and, and, showing great benefits to the skin.

What are your thoughts? How do you use that? so I personally actually have I'm late to the red light therapy, but I have read about it and I know it is, quite beneficial, I guess I have used it, I do use it in the infrared sauna, but I don't know, that counts.

I don't have, like, the mask ones. but I know that it can be incredibly beneficial for skin. so it is interesting. And I do think sunlight, sunshine is important.

we need our vitamin D, we need to reset our circadian rhythm. I'm a huge proponent of getting morning sunlight, and exposing our skin to a suitable amount of, you know, sun.

We don't want to burn. Of course. but we, you know, we need the vitamin D, we need the sunshine. we need we need nature. for sure. Yeah. That's great.

Well thanks again. Maria. Guys, check out our website. Mariamarlowe.com. Check out our 90 day clear skin program. Thanks so much again for your time and everybody.

We'll see you on a future interview. Be blessed.

Maria Marlowe

Discover Your Gut’s Role In Acne And Brain-Skin Health